A Brief Peace (1)
The Brans Army withdrew at speed.
True to the agreement, our forces did not pursue them. There had been a temptation, of course — to break the truce and strike them from behind while they retreated. But doing so would have made it impossible for the Lunarien Army to conduct normal diplomacy with any nation going forward. We weren't that foolish. Besides, beyond simply harassing the Brans Army, there was nothing to gain from a chase.
More than half of Jeiland Castle's walls had collapsed, and over eight thousand soldiers had been rendered unfit for combat — yet in the end, we had held the castle.
The Brans Army would be occupied dealing with Serpina's forces for some time, which meant a golden opportunity had fallen into our hands: a chance to strengthen our foundations in peace.
And this place — the royal keep of Jeiland Castle. Compared to the royal palace of Anel Castle I had once visited, it was shabby beyond measure. Even so, the feeling of finally arriving at a place that was truly my home made it hard to think of it as anything less than fine.
Gathered here were our sovereign Luna, along with Gustav and Aaron, who had each been defending different positions, and Kane as well. Tifa, I was told, had suffered a serious injury during the war and was currently receiving treatment.
I set a sack heavy with gold on the table.
"Three thousand gold."
Kane checked the contents, then looked back and forth between the gold and my face several times, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"So… Swen. You went to negotiate a ceasefire for one thousand three hundred gold, signed the agreement, and came back with three thousand instead?"
"Yes, that's right."
"How on earth…?"
I answered Kane's stunned silence with complete calm.
"I haggled a little."
"Haggled? That's not even— haah… good grief."
Kane wiped cold sweat from his brow and looked at me. The first time he had regarded me, there had been no particular emotion in his eyes — just the mild curiosity of meeting someone new. But as time passed, wariness had mixed with growing astonishment at my abilities, until now he was looking at me with something close to reverence.
"Swen. You really are something else. What has a man of your caliber been doing all this time?"
"Just killing time, more or less."
"Haha, is that so? In an age like this, I never imagined there were still talents buried away without making a name for themselves… You truly never know what life will bring. You're remarkable, Swen. From now on, I won't question your decisions."
"We were astonished as well. To go negotiate under unfavorable terms and come back with money instead… truly impressive."
"Lord Swen is a man of many talents indeed."
Gustav and Aaron were heaping praise on me as well. I wasn't the type who enjoyed being flattered, but as long as I was working for the Lunarien Army, this kind of reaction could only help. Going forward, my Intelligence of 100 would continue producing predictions that somehow always landed true — even if the process remained opaque. Having people who trusted me completely would make things far smoother than having to persuade them every single time.
"I knew it would turn out this way," Luna said from beside me. "Because I… believed in him. Thank you, Swen. Truly."
Reading the deep trust in her ruby eyes was not difficult. More than anything, her overwhelming support as sovereign put me at ease. When your every word is correct, having a lord who refuses to listen creates a uniquely frustrating situation — but working under Luna, I didn't think I'd ever have to worry about that. She trusted me that completely. She would keep backing me from here on out, I was sure of it.
Just to be certain, I ran the question Lunarien had first asked me through my mind once more.
Can Lunarien Iniang become the sovereign who unifies the continent?
The answer was the same as before. The protagonist of unification was none other than the woman standing before me. Even now, I still couldn't see how she would become the unifier of this continent — but my predictions never failed. She would become the sovereign of unification. Without question.
All I had to do was stay close to her as her most trusted aide until then, then return safely to my original world. Even by my own standards, it was an impressively stable isekai plan.
Isn't this a little too easy?
No. Stop that. Just because things were going well didn't mean I could afford to let my guard down. Even if a determined future existed, the Lunarien Army was still a minor power of no consequence. We had managed to hold on so far, but there was no telling what trials still lay ahead.
And so, our army's coffers now held four thousand three hundred gold. This time, Luna did not pour the entire sum into relief for the people of the territory. She seemed intent on prioritizing internal development first — conscription, commercial growth, funding for the mercenary companies. Either way, it was invaluable operating capital for building up Jeiland Castle.
At the very beginning, I had wondered whether we might have to abandon the castle soon enough. But by now, every castle neighboring Jeiland was already occupied by separate warlords. While we had been too short on soldiers and capital to expand in those early days, other lords had swallowed up the empty castles one after another. Being so close to Brans territory wasn't ideal, and it was a little frustrating that our only real option now was to develop this place — but still.
It's fine. It'll all work out somehow.
As long as I was here, we would find a way. With that thought, I stood at Luna's side and assisted her.
Upon arriving at Anel Castle, Airen distributed the wounded, ordered resupply for the remaining soldiers, and made straight for the royal keep. Before long, she stood before her lord, Lin Brans.
"My lord. Airen Juliette, reporting my arrival."
"…"
Lin approached the woman delivering her report. One step. Two. Until they stood close enough that a stumble would have brought their noses together —
Crack!
"…!!"
Lin struck Airen hard across the face. The blow left her cheek visibly red. Caught completely off guard, her body swayed — but she recovered her balance almost immediately and stood straight again.
"What were you doing? If you'd taken the castle faster, we never would have suffered this humiliation. How many more days did you need, exactly?"
Lin glared at her with ice-cold eyes. It was unjust. Airen knew better than anyone how utterly unfair this was. And yet, even in this moment, the thought of defiance never crossed her mind for even a second. Instead, she bowed her head deeply in apology.
"I am sorry, my lord. It was my inadequacy that caused us to fail in taking the castle."
A few more days. No — even a single day more, and she would have taken it. She could have explained that. But Airen made no excuses.
"I will accept any punishment."
"Enough. Just give me the situation report. How many troops remain?"
"Yes. Excluding the wounded, approximately eighteen thousand."
After conducting a siege and then a full retreat, they had lost only about five thousand — and not all of those were dead; the number included the injured. Objectively, it was an excellent result. And yet Lin found Airen thoroughly unsatisfactory. As if the humiliating negotiation Swen had essentially forced upon her was this woman's fault for failing to do her job properly.
"Order the soldiers to prepare for immediate deployment. We're sending them to Kelstein Castle."
"Then for the vanguard—"
Lin cut her off roughly.
"What? You want me to send you out? So you can ruin my plans again, like this time?"
"…No. I have no excuse."
Airen lowered her head slightly — a silent signal that she would accept any disposition. Lin caught it, exhaled a heavy sigh, and spoke.
"Just in case, you can guard the walls here. Understood?"
The walls of Anel Castle. For the record, every territory surrounding Anel belonged to the Brans Army. In other words, there was no need to defend the walls at all. Stationing a general where she was useless was an open insult — a way of telling her she was worthless. But Airen simply nodded and answered in a solemn tone.
"Yes! I will carry out your orders faithfully."
"Fine. Go."
Once Airen had vanished from sight, Lin bit her nail and thought.
If I add those eighteen thousand… we should just barely be able to hold Kelstein Castle.
Combining the existing garrison at Kelstein, the surrounding forces, and the soldiers who had just returned would bring them close to forty thousand. Of course, adding the western and southern armies would more than double that number — but those forces were difficult to pull away, and it would take too long to bring them. Given that a defensive battle was overwhelmingly more advantageous than a siege, forty thousand soldiers should be enough to hold against fifty-five thousand.
But if they hadn't signed the ceasefire — if they had been pursued?
They likely would have lost nearly eight thousand more. Retreating soldiers inevitably suffered reduced combat effectiveness. And the pursuing forces would have been trained specialists from two famous mercenary companies, the Ravens and the Chileans. It might not have been a generous estimate of eight thousand lost — it might have been the minimum.
Which meant —
That man, Swen, had been right. The ceasefire had saved the Brans Army from a crisis of the most extreme kind. She didn't want to admit it, but…
…Haa.
Lin felt her body tremble. She wanted to make that man hers right this instant… but for now, stopping Serpina's offensive was the priority.
I'll have to go to this battle myself.
Her eldest brother Chel was in the south, and her second brother Kalintz was unreliable. That left her — it was time she took the field as supreme commander for the first time in a while.
Interesting. Serpina. Whatever you're thinking… know that you won't set a single foot into the central lands.
With that thought, Lin swiftly began preparing for deployment.
After the ceasefire with the Brans Army, the days passed without any major incidents. A day became a week, a week became a month — and so several months of a peace so quiet it almost felt tedious settled over us.
I assigned work to the generals, ran "predictions" on what tasks would suit them best, and contributed where I could despite my meager martial ability…
Jeiland Castle itself had changed a great deal from how it first looked. New buildings rose where the storm had swept through, and the streets that had once been so empty they felt almost eerie were gradually reclaiming their vitality. People farmed. They raised livestock. What anyone could see had been abandoned land was transforming into a place where people lived — and the territory's residents, witnessing this change with their own eyes, praised Lunarien's benevolence with one voice.
Looking back on it now, that was peace.
Time flowed on, and the harvest season arrived. Luna and I were touring the territory, partly as a survey of public sentiment. Across the wide open fields of the domain, golden wheat swayed and rippled in the wind. It was the first harvest Jeiland Castle had seen under our rule.
"The crops have done well."
Luna nodded at my words.
"It's thanks to the hard work of the people of this land."
"And those same people are all praising your rule, Lady Luna. I think it would be fine for you to start recognizing yourself as an excellent leader."
"You're the only one who thinks of me that way, Lord Swen. Hehe… but thank you."
Just then, a lively clamor rose from somewhere in the distance.
What's that?
A festival, maybe? Luna looked toward the sound, then caught the sleeve of my clothes and asked,
"Um… over there."
"Yes?"
"Would you… like to go see, together?"
I studied her face. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and the way she fidgeted was oddly like a small animal. The inspection was nearly finished anyway, and when your sovereign wants to go somewhere, what can a retainer do but follow?
"Shall we?"
"Ah — yes…! Let's go together!"
Her expression brightened at my answer. Her two red eyes, catching the sunlight and glowing, looked like gemstones.
Together, we set off toward the place where the people had gathered.